The Infant Optics DXR-8’s interchangeable optical lens, which allows for customized viewing angles, truly sets this monitor apart. It gives the option of focusing in on a localized area or taking in the whole room. Couple that with the remote pan/tilt control and night vision and you’ve got a monitoring system that not only grows along with your baby, but one that can be adjusted to follow her around the room as she plays. Parents can calm their baby with the two-way talk feature and monitor the temperature to make sure the baby is safe and secure.
The Samsung SEW-3043W BrightView HD's primary advantages over our pick are a larger, crisper display and a sleeker-looking package overall. But it is not our pick because its main disadvantage—a slow and unresponsive touchscreen—is such an annoying flaw that we're sure you'd prefer our pick's reliable tactile controls. The Samsung also falls short of our pick on battery life and because of other long-term battery and charging issues. On many other measures, the two monitors came out more or less even.
This is the second most expensive baby monitor on our list (coming in just under $250), and there is a lot to love about it. First, it has the Samsung reliability and quality control, making it a long-lasting baby monitor that isn't likely to drop signals in the middle of the night. Second, it has a large 5" display with high definition 720p resolution. Third, it has the two-way intercom that allows you to not only hear but also to speak to your baby. Fourth, it has automatic voice activation so if your baby fusses or says something, the screen will turn on and alert you that something's up. It also has a pan-tilt-zoom camera, selectable music/lullabies and a night light on the camera (you can turn on/off remotely), and is expandable up to 4 cameras with just the one display. With all these awesome features, why is it second on our list? In our side-by-side comparison of the Infant Optics and this Samsung, we found the Infant Optics to come out ahead in several regards. First, let's talk about a few advantages of the Samsung: it has a larger screen than the Infant Optics, selectable music, the nightlight, and is expandable up to 4 cameras that you can view simultaneously on the single screen (you can buy the extra baby cameras here). That's a lot of great features. However, when we compare it to something like the Infant Optics that has the same price, there are several disadvantages relative to the Infant Optics and other baby monitors on this list. First, even though Samsung SEW3043W Brightview HD monitor touts a robust 900-ft range, we noticed that when we went outside the signal dropped repeatedly in our back or front yards; it was quite good, however, when going up to the third floor or basement while still inside the house. So there are some definite limitations on the range and signal connectivity. Second, the Infant Optics has the baby room temperature monitor, which we found useful during a few summer nights when we didn't realize how warm it was getting in the baby's room. Third, even though the Infant Optics screen is smaller, we found it to be a bit faster and more responsive as a touch screen, and a bit brighter as a monitor. The two night vision capabilities were about the same. With all these limitations, we're surprised that the Samsung is quite a bit more expensive than the Infant Optics.
If initial impressions mean anything, this is definitely one of the biggest bang-for-the-buck baby monitors on the market. It has some fantastic features, and is offered at a great price point at around $70! Here are some of the best features: first, it has very clear daytime video and crystal clear sound. Using 2.4Ghz communications, like most others on this list, it does a great job connecting, staying connected, and providing superb sound quality. It also is expandable with additional cameras - up to 4 additional cameras to be exact, which means you can really get one of these everywhere. Need one in the playroom, nursery, by the bassinet? Having up to 4 cameras connected is awesome, and the base station provides the easy ability to switch which camera you're looking at. Of course, it only comes with one out of the box, but you can buy extra cameras for about $40 each. We also liked that there is no complicated setup like with some of the IP cameras on this list, which means that there is no connecting to your internet router, or trying to get a phone app to connect. Of course, that also means you can only watch from the base station, not on your phone. About that base station. You can control whether you want digital video and sound, or sound only, and you can also remotely zoom in on your baby as needed (only 2 zoom levels though), but you cannot remotely pan or tilt the camera. There is a 2-way intercom (twoway talk) so you can talk to baby, or play one of the included lullabies. With the screen on, we were able to get the base station's battery to last for about 7 hours, and with just sound the battery lasted for about 11 hours. So definitely long enough for nap times during the day! Like many of the other ones on this list, you can put it into standby mode and have it voice activate automatically when the camera's microphone hears something in the room (like a fussy baby). We thought this feature worked really well and wasn't overly-sensitive and false alarming all night, which could get really annoying. So there are a lot of things to love about this baby video monitor. With such a low price, the feature list is obviously limited. We also thought the nighttime video quality really left something to be desired. We kept trying to increase the brightness to help, but it still was pretty poor relative to other units on this list. Finally, when we first reviewed this system we purchased 3 of them. After 1.5 years, only 1 of them is still working perfectly, 1 of them is a bit glitchy from time to time, and the other one had a screen failure. So we see some reliability and consistency issues with these baby video monitors, and that's the primary reason that it's not higher up on our list. In any event, we do recommend this camera, especially given the overall bang for the buck. But given how cheap it is, don't expect any miracles, or to be buying something to last you until you have grandchildren!
It may surprise you to hear that simply being able to last through the night, unplugged, with the display off, qualifies as exceptional battery life for a baby monitor. The Infant Optics was one of the only monitors in our testing that could easily do that, and then last a while longer the next day before needing a charge. (The manufacturer claims it lasts 10 hours with the display off—we got that amount of time off a full charge, even when checking the display intermittently.) This model also charges via a USB connection, which actually sets it apart from a variety of competitors, some of which use ineffective and inconvenient proprietary DC chargers or even disposable batteries.

It's no secret that babies require a lot of stuff for a successful outing, so a good diaper bag is one of the most important purchases a parent-to-be can make. Based on personal testing and research, the Skip Hop Duo Signature is the best diaper bag for most parents, with a reasonable price tag, loads of pockets, several stylish patterns, and easy-to-wipe fabric that can take a beating.

The price of the Infant Optics, at about $150, is on the higher end for baby monitors. As much as we wanted to recommend a more affordable option, we found their shortcomings to be major enough—terrible video quality and poor connections were common—that we couldn’t recommend one. The Infant Optics offers a better value even though it’s among the more expensive options out there. Many people use these daily for years, which helps justify the investment, and the reports of reliable customer service from other customers are reassuring. If you have to spend less, go audio-only.

Gone are the days of silently peeking into the nursery to check on your napping baby and then, whoops, accidentally waking them up (“No, no, please no!”). A baby monitor uses a camera to watch over the crib, while you carry a handheld device that lets you know what’s going on with your child at any given moment, no matter where you are in your home. There are also other monitors that track sleep or breathing either with a clip or sock.